Gülenists target Jewish lawyer in anti-Semitic messages

Robert Amsterdam, whose law firm Amsterdam & Partners, was recently hired by the Republic of Turkey to provide legal assistance in the global investigation into the activities of the U.S.-based Gülen Movement is facing anti-Semitic attacks by agents of the movement on social media, who underscore his Jewish identity in efforts to degrade him.

According to the reliable and high-circulation newspaper Sabah Daily; prominent Gülenist figures, including İhsan Yılmaz who is a columnist at Today’s Zaman newspaper and a political science professor at Fatih University slammed Amsterdam’s Jewish background on his Twitter account, while also criticizing the Turkish state for hiring a ‘Jewish’ lawyer.

Lawyer Sıddık Filiz, who is also affiliated with the Gülen Movement, also criticized the government for hiring a Jewish lawyer, without making any distinction between Zionism as a political ideology and Judaism as a religion:

“The money comes from the nation, while the lawyer they hired is a Jew, and their target is to close down Gülen schools,” Filiz said on his Twitter account on October 26.

Adem Yavuz Arslan, who works as the Washington correspondent of Gülenist Bugün daily, claimed that he was standing up against ‘oppressors’ –in reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan- who give the nation’s money to ‘Jewish lawyers’ to close down Gülenist schools.

Tens of other Gülenist accounts verbally attack Amsterdam for his Jewish background, while Amsterdam has said that his law firm “is already receiving death threats from the Gülen organization.”

International law firm of Amsterdam & Partners LLP held a press conference on Monday at the National Press Club in Washington to announce their engagement on behalf of the Republic of Turkey to assist in the global investigation into the activities of the U.S.-based Gülen Movement.
Amsterdam & Partners LLP presented initial areas of inquiry related to the activities of the controversial movement that is accused of a series of alleged illegal activities ranging from attempts to oust an elected government to collect funds for its charter schools in the U.S. through illegal means.

Activities and operations of the Gülen Movement in the U.S. and Turkey have been scrutinized by a number of American media outlets that question the movement’s motives, opacity and why the U.S. government is providing refuge to Fethullah Gülen, who is currently facing numerous charges including treason and extradition.

In 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided 19 charter schools affiliated with the Gülen Movement in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois for reasons allegedly related to crimes linked to education tenders.

Schools operated by the Gülen Movement in the U.S. have faced investigations under the scope of unfair hiring practices and bribery charges, which have led them to face closure.

The movement, led by Fethullah Gülen who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. is accused of wiretapping thousands of people including government officials and encrypted phones. It has been accused of infiltrating state institutions in Turkey and trying to overthrow the government. Referred to as the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ), the movement is seen as a threat against Turkey’s national security. Government officials have continuously expressed their determination to continue to lawfully fight the Gülen Movement, whose followers are accused of infiltrating state institutions to gain control of state mechanisms and illegal wiretapping, forgery of official documents and espionage.